Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey, 87841-87843 [2024-25655]

Agencies

• Census Bureau
• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87841-87843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25655]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information 
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information 
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the 
proposed extension of the American Community Survey and Puerto Rico 
Community Survey, prior to the submission of the information collection 
request (ICR) to OMB for approval.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before January 6, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference the American Community 
Survey and the Puerto Rico Community Survey in the subject line of your 
comments. You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number 
USBC-2024-0029, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the 
required fields, and enter or attach your comments. All comments 
received are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to 
https://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after the comment 
period has closed. Comments will generally be posted without change. 
All Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do 
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information. You may submit attachments to electronic 
comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Nicole Butler, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office, 
301-763-3928, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The U.S. Census Bureau seeks an extension for the American 
Community Survey (ACS) and the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS).
    Since its founding, the Census Bureau has balanced the demands of a 
growing country requiring information about its people and economy with 
concerns for respondents' confidentiality and the time and effort it 
takes respondents to answer questions. Beginning with the 1810 Census, 
Congress updated the set of questions asked in the 1790 and 1800 
Censuses by adding questions to support a range of public concerns and

[[Page 87842]]

uses. Over the course of a century, Federal agencies requested to add 
questions about agriculture, industry, and commerce, as well as 
individuals' occupation, ancestry, marital status, disabilities, place 
of birth, and other topics. In 1940, the Census Bureau introduced the 
long-form census questionnaire in order to ask more detailed questions 
from a sample of the public.
    In the early 1990s, the demand for current, nationally consistent 
data from a wide variety of users led Federal government policymakers 
to consider the feasibility of collecting social, economic, housing, 
and demographic data continuously throughout the decade. The benefits 
of providing current data, along with the anticipated decennial census 
benefits in cost savings, planning, improved census coverage, and more 
efficient operations, led the Census Bureau to plan the implementation 
of the Continuous Measurement Survey, later called the American 
Community Survey (ACS). After years of testing, the ACS was implemented 
in 2005, replacing the need for long-form data collection in future 
decennial censuses. The ACS is conducted throughout the United States 
and in Puerto Rico, where it is called the Puerto Rico Community Survey 
(PRCS). The ACS samples approximately 3.5 million housing unit 
addresses in the United States and about 36,000 in Puerto Rico each 
year. A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group 
of rooms, or a single room occupied or intended for occupancy as 
separate living quarters. The ACS also collects detailed data from a 
sample of about 150,000 residents living in group quarters facilities 
in the United States and about 600 in Puerto Rico. Group quarters are 
places where people live or stay in a group living arrangement owned or 
managed by an entity or organization providing housing and/or services 
for the residents. People living in group quarters usually are not 
related to each other. Group quarters include college/university 
student housing, residential treatment centers, skilled nursing 
facilities, group homes, military barracks, correctional facilities, 
workers' group living quarters, Job Corps centers, and emergency and 
transitional shelters.
    The ACS program provides estimates annually for the nation, all 
states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, congressional districts, 
metropolitan areas, and counties and places with a population of 65,000 
or more. It takes five years for smaller areas and population groups to 
accumulate enough data to provide reliable estimates. Every community 
in the nation continues to receive a detailed, statistical portrait of 
its social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics each 
year through one-year and five-year ACS products.
    The ACS collects detailed social, economic, housing, and 
demographic data on over 40 topics. The list of topics and questions 
can be found here: https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/.

II. Method of Collection

    To encourage self-response in the ACS, the Census Bureau sends up 
to five mailings to housing unit addresses selected for the sample. The 
first mailing, sent to all mailable addresses in the sample, includes 
an invitation to participate in the ACS online and states that a paper 
questionnaire will be sent in a few weeks to those unable to respond 
online. The second mailing is a letter that reminds respondents to 
complete the survey online, thanks them if they have already done so, 
and informs them that a paper questionnaire will be sent later if we do 
not receive their response. In a third mailing, the paper questionnaire 
is sent only to those sample addresses that have not completed the 
online questionnaire within two weeks of receipt of the first mailing. 
The fourth mailing is a postcard that reminds respondents to respond 
and informs them that an interviewer may contact them if they do not 
complete the survey. A fifth mailing is sent to respondents who have 
not completed the survey within five weeks. This letter provides a due 
date and reminds the respondents to return their questionnaires to be 
removed from future contact. Some households are also contacted by 
email. If a household starts the online survey and gives an email but 
doesn't finish the survey, the household will receive an email reminder 
to complete the survey.
    If the Census Bureau does not receive a response from an address in 
the self-response data collection phase, the address may be selected 
for an in-person or phone interview by a Census Bureau field 
representative. This is the nonresponse follow-up data collection 
operation known as the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) 
phase. The CAPI phase of data collection lasts for one month. Only a 
portion of nonresponding addresses, after the self-response phase, are 
sampled in CAPI. While this phase of data collection focuses on 
personal interviews, respondents still have the option to respond 
online or call the Telephone Questionnaire Assistance line and complete 
the survey over the telephone.
    At the beginning of the CAPI month a sixth mailing is sent to all 
mailable addresses in the CAPI sample. This letter urges respondents to 
complete the survey online to avoid an in-person interview. If a 
household responds online or by phone, they are removed from the 
workload and are no longer contacted. If they do not respond, a Census 
Bureau field representative attempts to contact them to obtain a 
response via a computer-assisted interview.
    Unlike the ACS, the PRCS does not have an internet response option. 
As a result, a PRCS mailings make no references to an internet response 
option. The Census Bureau sends up to five mailings to a Puerto Rico 
address selected to be in the sample. The first mailing includes a 
prenotice letter. The second and fourth mailings include the paper 
survey. The third and fifth mailings are postcards that serve as a 
reminder to respond to the survey. If the Puerto Rico address is deemed 
unmailable because the address is incomplete or directs mail only to a 
post office box, the address may be selected for an interview in person 
or by telephone.
    The Census Bureau employs a separate strategy to collect data from 
group quarters. The Census Bureau collects data for sampled people in 
group quarters through personal interviews, telephone interviews, and 
internet responses. The Census Bureau will obtain the facility 
information by conducting a telephone or personal visit interview with 
a group quarter contact. During this interview, the Census Bureau 
obtains a roster of residents and randomly selects them for person-
level interviews. The facility can also upload their facility roster to 
the Census Bureau online listing application. During the person-level 
phase, a field representative uses a computer-assisted personal 
interview automated instrument to collect detailed information for each 
sampled resident. The field representative also has the option to 
distribute a bilingual (English/Spanish) questionnaire to residents for 
self-response if they are unable to complete a computer-assisted 
personal interview. Respondents in some group quarters also have the 
option to self-respond to the survey online.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0810.
    Form Number(s): ACS-1, ACS-1(SP), ACS-1(PR), ACS-1(PR)SP, ACS-
1(GQ), ACS-1(GQ)(PR), ACS Housing Unit internet electronic instrument 
(no form

[[Page 87843]]

number), ACS nonresponse follow up CAPI electronic instrument (no form 
number), ACS Failed Edit Follow up CATI electronic instrument (no form 
number), ACS Telephone Questionnaire Assistance CATI electronic 
instrument (no form number). ACS Group Quarters internet listing 
instrument (no form number), ACS Group Quarters Facility Questionnaire 
CAPI GQFQ electronic instrument, ACS Group Quarters internet electronic 
instrument (no form number), ACS Group Quarters Resident CAPI 
electronic instrument (no form number). ACS Reinterview CATI/CAPI HU RI 
electronic instrument (no form number), ACS Reinterview CATI/CAPI GQ RI 
electronic instrument (no form number).
    Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for an extension
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,576,000 for household 
respondents; 20,100 for contacts in GQ; 150,600 people in GQ; 22,875 
households for reinterview; and 1,422 GQ contacts for reinterview. The 
total estimated number of respondents is 3,770,997.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 40 minutes for the average household 
questionnaire; 15 minutes for a GQ facility questionnaire; 25 minutes 
for a GQ person questionnaire; 10 minutes for a household reinterview; 
10 minutes for a GQ-level reinterview.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,384,000 for household 
respondents; 5,025 for contacts in GQ; 62,750 for GQ residents 3,813 
households for reinterview; and 237 GQ contacts for reinterview. The 
estimate is an annual average of 2,455,825 burden hours.

                        Table 1--Annual ACS and PRCS Respondent and Burden Hour Estimates
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                                                                                     Estimated
                                                                      Annual        minutes per
                                        Forms or instrument used     estimated     respondent by      Annual
       Data collection operation           in data collection        number of         data          estimated
                                                                    respondents     collection     burden hours
                                                                                     activity
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I. ACS Household Questionnaire, Online  ACS-1, ACS 1(SP), ACS-         3,576,000              40       2,384,000
 Survey, Telephone, and Personal Visit.  1PR, ACS-1PR(SP),
                                         Online Survey,
                                         Telephone, CAPI.
II. ACS GQ Facility Questionnaire       CAPI GQFQ...............          20,100              15           5,025
 CAPI--Telephone and Personal Visit.
III. ACS GQ CAPI Personal Interview or  CAPI, ACS-1(GQ), ACS-            150,600              25          62,750
 Telephone, Online Survey and Paper      1(GQ)(PR).
 Self-response.
IV. ACS Household Reinterview--CATI/    ACS HU-RI...............          22,875              10           3,813
 CAPI.
V. ACS GQ-level Reinterview--CATI/CAPI  ACS GQ-RI...............           1,422              10             237
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Totals............................  ........................       3,770,997             N/A       2,455,825
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    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. (This is not the cost of 
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for 
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to 
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services 
required specifically by the collection.)
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: 13 U.S.C. 141, 193, 221, and 223.

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-25655 Filed 11-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P